event_title: Live in Fort Collins BHA Podcast & Blast!

event_time_zone: America/Denver

event_start: December 12, 2019 18:00

event_duration: 180

event_end: December 12, 2019 21:00

event_address:

event_description: Were thrilled to announce that Hal Herring is coming to New Belgium in Fort Collins to host a live recording of the BHA Podcast & Blast focusing on Migration Corridors. Hal, an award winning journalist is going to take a deep dive with special guests Dan Prenzlow (Director, Colorado Parks & Wildlife), Jessica Myklebust (Regional Environmental Manager, Region 1, Colorado Department of Transportation), and Luke Schafer (Colorado Parks & Wildlife Commissioner).Tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door. Space is limited to 75 people so make sure to purchase your ticket today so that you dont miss out on a great conversation, great beer, and a room full of great people who share your values and curiosity about this important subject. We will have BHA merchandise on hand so you can stock up for the holidays, and well be running a CO Public Lands Map promotion (ending 12/31) - if you purchase a map at the event or online you will be entered to win a Yeti 65 Tundra.Purchase Your Tickets BelowJoin us for a good time and an important cause. This is a unique opportunity to learn a lot about the work thats being done and the challenges that we face to conserve migration corridors in Colorado.The Importance Of Wildlife HabitatIn 2004 a group of seven hunters and anglers came together around a campfire to discuss the tenets of our hunting heritage. The conversation that ensued shaped the core mission and values of what Backcountry Hunters & Anglers would become and would shape our focus, making us the outspoken, fastest growing organization for our public lands, waters, and wildlife habitat that we are today.Our hunting heritage depends on healthy populations of wild game. Habitat is fundamental to supporting these populations, and it is incumbent upon us as sportsmen and women to be outspoken advocates for protecting it. We are losing this habitat every day. Subdivisions, roads, trails and energy fields are being steadily developed to meet the demands of a population expected to nearly double in size by 2050. Since 2001, Colorado has lost more than half a million acres of habitat, nearly the size of Rhode Island. The habitat we’re losing is widespread – leading to increasingly fragmented landscapes on which wildlife depend. This change has been incremental, but ceaseless – difficult to recognize at times but very real and deserving of our attention. Development of wildlife habitat is impacting migration routes, oftentimes altering the course of these historic routes and sometimes cutting them off altogether. For wildlife such as a mule deer with a strong fidelity to historic migration routes, these changes can take a significant toll – severely limiting movement between critical ranges, the food and refuge they provide, and putting them and other game species on a collision course along our highways and roadways. This can limit mule deer access to food and refuge, concentrating populations into smaller and smaller areas and creating barriers to movement. If not properly planned and mitigated, such development can depress native populations of wildlife like mule deer.  As hunters, anglers and conservationists, we have a duty to help advance commonsense solutions that help ensure our wildlife continues to thrive alongside human development.  Colorado hunters, anglers and decision makers have worked to advance policy solutions and funding mechanisms that ensure wildlife habitat conservation is at the forefront of land use planning decisions in the state.    This August, Gov. Jared Polis signed an Executive Order to help Conserve Colorados Big Game Winter Range and Migration CorridorsWhat Does This Executive Order Do?While the EO doesn’t formally designate protections for migration corridors, it does take a number of positive steps to support and direct Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Department of Natural Resources, the Colorado Department of Transportation and other important stakeholders to better protect migration corridors moving forward.Our ability to protect migration corridors in Colorado was also recently strengthened by Secretarial Order (SO) 3362 in February of 2018. This order provides basic guidelines to support collaborations between the federal, government, states, and private landowners; it prioritizes the use of the best available science, and it helps identify funding to support this work.This is a great step for Colorado, and BHA looks forward to working with our state, agency and community partners to move this work forward. Whether we’re partnering with community outreach efforts with CPW, contributing to citizen science, or showing up to advocate for wildlife habitat, the Colorado Chapter of BHA will be there.We need your help. If you’d like to volunteer or get involved please contact us!